Lint cleaner



June 18, 1968 w, CALHOUN, JR 3,388,434

LINT CLEANER Filed Aug. 19. 1965 INVENTOR 5 WILLIAM LAWRENCE CALHOUNJR.

BY gAn-m sw ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,388,434 LINT CLEANER William Lawrence Calhoun, Jr., 406 W. Spencer St.,

Rayville, La. 71269 Filed Aug. 19, 1965, Ser. No. 481,045 4 Claims. (Cl. 19-203) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A lint cleaner which has grid bars, a trash chamber and an elongated opening for the lint on the saw cylinder to leave the trash chamber, the wall means which forms with the saw cylinder the elongated opening having the additional function of a grid bar, and a nozzle for directing a stream of air into the lint on the saw cylinder after it has passed through the elongated opening, the stream of air from the nozzle having a direction, mass and velocity such as to prevent trash from being carried with the lint from the trash collection chamber but not such as to dolf an objectionable amount of fibers of usable length from the lint passing the nozzle means. An additional wall portion closely adjacent to but spaced from the saw cylinder, extends in the direction of lint movement from the elongated opening, the nozzle opening into the slot contiguous to the elongated opening.

Description of the invention This invention relates to lint cleaners for textile lint and the like and more particularly it relates to a device for delivering textile lint and the like in much cleaner condition than has previously been attained in the art.

The invention is especially useful in the cotton lint cleaning art and will be described in this embodiment.

In the conventional cotton lint cleaning machine the lint is carried into the machine in an air stream with the lint being separated from the air stream in a condenser from whence the lint is deposited on a rapidly revolving saw cylinder which retains and carries the lint around through a large portion of its angular rotation. As the lint is rapidly carried around by the saw cylinder it passes a series of cleaning bars very closely spaced from the saw cylinder. Motes, stems, leaves, neps, pin and pepper particles, all herein collectively referred to as trash, are removed from the rapidly traveling lint by virtue of the fact that the trash-containing lint is repeatedly thrown against succeeding cleaning bars by centrifugal force and the trash thus beaten out of it. Thus loose trash is projected between the treating bars into a trash collection chamber from whence it is discharged from the machine by mechanical conveyor means or by an air stream. The lint after passing the last cleaning bar passes through a narrow slot which defines the exit of the trash collection chamber and thence to a doffing step in which the cleaned lint is removed from the saw by mechanical dotting means or an air stream. The cleaned lint is then removed from the machine.

For some reason conventional lint cleaning machines are not successful in removing all the trash from the lint and prior to applicants invention no modifications of these machines have been successful in eliminating this fault. The theory has been advanced that the lint is not sufiiciently beaten and accordingly the number of cleaning bars was increased but without success.

Applicant has theorized that the rapidly rotating saw cylinder drags along a current of air and as a result, instead of the trash not being thoroughly removed from the lint, this current of air carries ejected trash back into the lint adjacent the slot through which the lint leaves the trash collection chamber. Whether this is the case or ice whether the beating action of the cleaning bars fails to remove this lighter trash, applicants invention eliminates this remaining trash from the lint by a simple but ingenious expedient.

Applicant has conceived the idea that this residual light trash can be prevented from reentering the lint or can be removed from the lint just prior to or at the time at which the lint passes through the exit slot from the trash collection chamber by means of a small jet of air directed into the lint on the downstream side of the entrance of the slot relative to movement of the lint. This action is accomplished without premature doffing of usable lint upstream of the exit slot relative to the movement of the lint which would cause loss of this usable lint in the trash collection chamber. The critical aspects of applicants invention involve one or more of the following: the angle at which the stream of air is directed into the moving lint, the proximity of the air nozzle opening to the opening of the slot and the mass of air which is impinged on the lint within the boundaries of the slot. These factors are all important to varying degrees to assure that a controllable pressure component of the air stream acts on the lint to create a stable and controlled aerodynamic condition in the slot and in the trash collection chamber in the vicinity of the entrance to the slot.

It has already been proposed in the early patent to Pettit 1,401,439 in reginning cotton to use two separate different means for removing trash, namely, beater bars and a conventional trash collection chamber followed by an air blowing operation after the lint has passed through the exit slot of the trash collection chamber. The proposed supplemental cleaning action involved large quantities of air which thereafter formed an air stream for carrying away additional trash thus removed after the usual heating operation. Since such large volumes of air and resulting high velocities of the air through the lint would result in the doifing of large quantities of the usable lint from the saw cylinder the system proposed in this patent was never adopted for commercial use in lint cleaners.

The present invention will be better understood from the following description taken in connection with the drawing wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a diagrammatic view in vertical section of one form of a conventional lint cleaner incorporating the present invention,

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged view of a portion of FIG- URE 1,

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged view in perspective of the nozzle element of FIGURE 1,

FIGURE 4 is a diagrammatic view in vertical section of a portion of another form of conventional lint cleaner incorporating the present invention,

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged view of a portion of FIG- URE 4.

Referring now to the embodiment illustrated in FIG- URES l to 3, inclusive, the lint cleaning machine diagrammatically illustrated in FIGURE 1 is generally of the type disclosed in Moss Patent 2,704,862, only the pertinent portions of the machine being shown in this application to simplify this specification. Cotton lint is introduced through conduit 10 to the condenser which includes the usual screen cylinder 11 and dofling roll 12. A series of coacting feed bars and feed rolls indicated generally at 13 carry the lint from the condenser and feed it onto saw cylinder 14. Conventional grid bars 15 are associated with the saw cylinder 14 which beat trash out of the lint into trash collection chamber 16. Trash is removed from the lower portion of trash collection chamber 16 in any desired manner, the means herein being shown being a mechanical screw conveyor 17.

The back wall 18 of trash collection chamber 16 terminates adjacent the saw cylinder in an edge structure 19 to form with saw cylinder 14 an elongated opening 20 extending the length of the saw cylinder at a point contiguous to and following the last grid bar 15 in the direction of rotation of the saw cylinder, through which opening passes the lint carried by the saw cylinder. This part of the apparatus is shown enlarged in FIGURE 2. Considering FIGURE 2, opening forms the entrance to a slot 21 which extends from the upper edge 19 of wall 18 of trash collection chamber 16 to point 22 of scroll member 23. Intermediate opening 20 and terminal point 22 of slot 21 applicants nozzle 2-6 is positioned with its narrow elongated orifice 25 extending along the entire length of the saw cylinder. This simple nozzle is shown in FIGURE 3 without scroll member 23. The mass of air passing through nozzle 24 can be controlled by a simple cut-01f valve 26 in feed conduit 27. Any suitable air blower 28 can be connected to air feed conduit 27.

It will be noted that edge portion 19 of wall 18 slopes in the direction of movement of the surface of the saw cylinder and by terminating close to and forming an acute angle with the surface of the saw cylinder acts in the same manner as adjacent grid bar 15.

As indicated in FIGURE 2, the angle of the nozzle orifice 29 in this embodiment is about 45 from a tangent to the periphery of the saw cylinder.

The lint after passing through slot 21 is removed from the saw cylinder by dofiing brush 30 and is carried out of the cleaning machine by a stream of air through passage 32.

FIGURES 4 and 5 illustrate a modified form of the invention incorporated in a slightly different conventional form of lint cleaner.

In this modification lint in batt form is received from a conventional condenser and applied to saw cylinder by conventional lint feeding elements indicated generally at 42. Grid bars 44 beat trash out of the lint and this trash is projected into trash collection chamber 46 and thence out of the machine through a suction conduit 48. In this type of cleaner the back wall 49 of the trash collecting chamber is normally attached at its upper edge to the last grid bar 44. In the present invention, however, as best shown in FIGURE 5, the upper edge of wall 49 is cut away and formed to connect with the lower wall 50 of an air nozzle 52, which lower wall of the nozzle and associated grid bar 44 thereby form part of the trash collection chamber back wall. In this embodiment the slot 53 between the trash collecting chamber 46 and the lint dofiing chamber 55 is formed by a second wall means including the trailing edge portion of the last grid bar and a flange 54 carried by the nozzle orifice or throat 56 and thus slot 53 extends from the opening formed between the saw cylinder and the rear edge portion 58 of grid bar 44 to the terminal or free edge 54' of flange 54. Slot 53 can therefore be said to be contiguous to this grid bar and to follow the grid bars relative to action of the lint on the saw cylinder. Nozzle 52 is held in place at its upper end by means of a bolt 60 threaded into grid bar 44, including a spacer 62 to maintain the throat 56 of the nozzle rigid.

In this embodiment the throat 56 of the nozzle directs the stream of air at an angle 70 to a line tangentially disposed relative to the periphery of the saw cylinder.

Any suitable form of air blower 57 and control valve 59 can be used to supply compressed air thru a conduit 61 to nozzle 52.

The lint, after passing through slot 53, is dotted from 65 slot or removes trash from the lint as the lint enters the slot. At the same time the angle of incidence of the stream of air with the lint, taken with the controlled velocity of the air stream, retains or does not disturb fibers of usable length in the lint.

The mass of air passing through the nozzle in the present invention is very small compared with the amounts of air 'which are used to remove trash from the trash collection chamber and for conducting lint into and out of the machine. For example, in respect to the nozzle of the modification of FIGURES 4 and 5, a suitable pressure of the air entering the nozzle has been found to be six inches of water with the dimensions of the nozzle orifice 56 being one quarter of an inch in width and fifty seven and one half inches in length.

The foregoing description and the accompany drawing are intended to describe and illustrate two preferred embodiments of the invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention which is defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a lint cleaner the combination comprising:

(a) a rotatable saw cylinder arranged to receive the lint and hold the lint during rotation of the saw cylinder,

(b) grind bar means contiguous to the rotatable saw cylinder for separating trash from the lint on the saw cylinder as the lint passes the grid bars,

(c) a trash collection chamber into which separated trash is projected,

((1) wall means forming part of the trash collection chamber having a portion arranged at an acute angle to and closely adjacent the peripheral portion of the saw cylinder along the length of the saw cylinder, said portion of the Wall means sloping from closely adjacent the saw cylinder in the direction of movement of the peripheral portion of the saw cylinder and following the grid bar means in the direction of rotation of the saw cylinder to thereby form an elongated opening between said portion of the wall means and the peripheral portion of the saw cylinder,

(e) nozzle means for directing a stream of compressed air toward the saw cylinder and into the lint after the lint has passed through the elongated opening, the stream of compressed air having a directional component opposed to the direction of motion of the lint,

(f) air compressing means for supplying a stream of air under pressure to the nozzle means in mass quantity sufficiently great to prevent trash from being carried with the lint from the trash collection chamber past the nozzle means but not so great as to dott an objectionable amount of fibers of usable length from the lint passing the nozzle means,

(g) means independent of said air compressing means for removing from the trash collection chamber all trash separated from the lint in the trash collection chamber, including trash separated from the lint by the stream of air under pressure from the nozzle means, and

(h) dofiing means for removing the cleaned lint from the saw cylinder after the cleaned lint has passed the nozzle means.

2. The combination claimed in claim 1 in which the directional component of limitation (e) is a minor component.

3. In a lint cleaner the combination comprising:

(a) a rotatable saw cylinder arranged to receive the lint and hold the lint during rotation of the saw cylinder,

(b) grid bar means contiguous to the rotatable saw cylinder for separating trash from the lint on the saw cylinder as the lint passes the grid bars,

(c) a trash collection chamber into which separated trash is projected,

(d) wall means forming part of the trash collection chamber having a portion arranged at an acute angle to and closely adjacent the peripheral portion of the saw cylinder along the length of the saw cylinder, said portion of the wall means sloping in the direction of movement of the peripheral portion of the saw cylinder and following the grid bar means in the direction of rotation of the saw cylinder to thereby form an elongated opening between said portion of the wall means and the peripheral portion of the saw cylinder,

(e) second wall means in closely adjacent but spaced relation to the peripheral portion of the saw cylinder extending from the elongated opening in a direction away from the trash collection chamber to a terminal point and in closely adjacent but in spaced relation to the peripheral surface of the saw cylinder to form therewith a slot extending along the length of the saw cylinder,

(f) nozzle means having an outlet orifice opening in to the slot at a point contiguous to the elongated opening and spaced from the terminal point of the second wall means for directing a stream of compressed air into the lint after the lint has passed through the elongated opening, the nozzle means directing the stream at an angle of between 40 and 75 from a tangent to the periphery of the saw cylinder at the outlet orifice the direction of the stream of compressed air being such as to have a fractional component opposed to the direction of motion of the lint, and

(g) doffing means for removing the cleaned lint from the saw cylinder after the cleaned lint has passed through the slot.

4. In a lint cleaner the combination comprising:

(a) a rotatable saw cylinder arranged to receive the lint and hold the lint during rotation of the saw cylinder,

(b) grid bar means contiguous to the rotatable saw cylinder for separating trash from the lint on the saw cylinder as the lint passes the grid bars,

(c) a trash collection chamber into which separated trash is projected,

(d) Wall means forming part of the trash collection chamber having a portion adjacent the peripheral portion of the saw cylinder along the length of the saw cylinder at a point contiguous to and following the grid bar means in the direction of rotation of the saw cylinder to thereby form an elongated opening between the wall means and the peripheral portion of the saw cylinder,

(e) second wall means in closely adjacent but spaced relation to the peripheral portion of the saw cylinder extending from the elongated opening in a direction away from the trash collection chamber to a terminal point and in closely adjacent but in spaced relation to the peripheral surface of the saw cylinder to form therewith a slot extending along the length of the saw cylinder,

(f) nozzle means having an outlet orifice opening into the slot at a point contiguous to the elongated opening and spaced from the terminal point of the second wallmeans for directing a stream of compressed air into the lint after the lint has passed through the elongated opening, the nozzle means directing the stream at an angle of between 40 and from a tangent to the periphery of the saw cylinder at the outlet orifice, the direction of the stream of compressed air being such as to have a fractional component opposed to the direction of motion of the lint,

(g) nozzle means for delivering a stream of compressed air having an outlet orifice opening into the slot at a point contiguous to the elongated opening, the nozzle means being shaped to deliver the stream of compressed air at an angle which at the least is not appreciably less than an obtuse angle to a tangent to the periphery of the saw cylinder at the outlet orifice, the direction of the stream of compressed air being such as to have a fractional component opposed to the direction of motion of the lint,

(h) means for supplying a stream of air under pressure to the nozzle means in mass quantity sutficiently great to prevent trash from being carried with the lint from the trash collection chamber past the nozzle means but not so great as to doff an objectionable amount of fibers of usable length from the lint passing the nozzle means, and

(i) dofiing means for removing the cleaned lint from the saw cylinder after the cleaned lint has passed through the slot.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,401,439 12/1921 'Pettit 1980 MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner.

I. WADDEY, Assistant Examiner. 

